"Operation refused without explanation"

After months of getting various departments on the same page, my wife was finally having the knee surgery that she so longed for. When we got to Guys hospital the afternoon before her operation and had the usual pre virus screening she spent a night in the ward.

The following morning at 08.00, the surgeon who was to perform the operation came around and talked to my wife about the procedure. The surgeon marked her leg and told her that the surgery will take place.

For those who have never had surgery, one of the requirements is that patient has to be nil by mouth. So my wife had not eaten from the previous evening. My wife was told she was 4th in line and at around 13.30 the nurse told us that she was next. 

At 14.00 the porter and nurse came up to take my wife down for surgery and the nurse told me that the procedure will take approximately 1 and half to 2 hours. So I decided to take a stroll to Borough Market to get a bite to eat.

When I got back to the ward I found my daughter by her mothers side. When my wife saw me she asked to go to the toilet. As there was no nurse around I gently took off her bedding and attempted to remove her from the bed. I quickly noticed that there were no bandages or stitches on her knee. She has not had the surgery. 

As I saw her go away with the porter and nurse I am somewhat baffled as to why nothing had been done. When I tried to find someone to get an explanation as to why she had not had the procedure, I eventually came into contact with the nurse who took her away. The nurse had no reason why the surgery was not performed and stated that they will contact the doctor so they could explain what had happened.

A little while later I got a phone given to me. It was the doctor on the phone, who could not explain why they did not do the procedure after they said yes, marked her leg and waited 6 hours to refuse her.

My wife spent 23 hours without food and if my daughter and I had not been there she could have spent another 14 hours before someone noticed that she was not to be nil by mouth.

An animal would not have been allowed to be left 23 hours without food and water. But my wife was in a hospital that had a duty a of care. 

The doctor showed little interest in my wife or the family and could not be bothered to explained the situation in person. They say that the worst day for an operation is on a Friday, I can now testify to that. 

Should a patient be treated like this?